TORONTO – Coming off the heels of the three largest annual film festivals (Cannes, Venice and Toronto), the Rome Film Festival has had to fluff its feathers a little differently to get noticed, since its inaugural event in 2006. Historically, the main challenge for Rome’s event was in attracting top filmmakers and celebrities, and in creating a large enough media storm to remain relevant – so late in the year. By October, rival programmers have scooped the “most buzzed about” World Premiers and heavy hitters, leaving Rome’s cinephiles and journalists with little left to write home about.
NEW YORK – The spotlight is all on her: Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni is the protagonist of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly underway in New York while we are writing this article. Indeed, the President of the Italian Council of Ministers was awarded the Global Citizen Award 2024, a prestigious award given every year by the Atlantic Council: the award ceremony is scheduled for 7 pm, today, during a gala organized for the occasion. But the news is double: in fact, not only Meloni is awarded, but she receives the prix directly from the hands of Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, X (Twitter) and SpaceX (and a great supporter of Donald Trump in the presidential elections USA). →
TORONTO – It’s not a real “ban”, but rather a “warm invitation”, with a final prize: if you don’t touch your cell phone during dinner, you go home with a $5 discount voucher for your next evening in the restaurant. And the place in question could only be Italian, because for people originally from the “Bel Paese” the meal is sacred. “A real sensorial experience, I would say…” explains Gino Benevenga, owner of the pinseria-restaurant “Venga Cucina”, where the original “ban” has been in force for a few weeks, with a sign at the entrance.
TORONTO – After a despairing week which included the death of the Italia ‘90 legend Toto Schillaci, and the unceremonious sacking of AS Roma’s Daniele De Rossi, a cinematic reminisce via Sorrentino’s nostalgic frolic and coming-of-age drama “The Hand of God”, seems appropriate. In Sorrentino’s semi-autobiographical film however, an elusive and diminutive Argentine is the hero, not Toto. The two did cross paths of course, three year’s after the film’s infamous summer setting, the season Napoli won their first Scudetto – courtesy of Maradona’s magic.
TORONTO – It went better than expected. A 2.1 was assumed a few days ago, but the rate of inflation fell even further, to 2%. The Bank of Canada’s objective was therefore achieved after a tumultuous period with the dizzying growth in prices, led by battles of increasing interest rates. The annual inflation rate therefore fell from 2.5% in July to 2% in August, reaching the lowest level since February 2021. →
